Aaron Rodgers held the Pittsburgh Steelers hostage all offseason, and much to Mel Kiper’s chagrin, they did not draft Shedeur Sanders. They did, however, trade away George Pickens, trade for DK Metcalf, and did nothing else in the wide receiver room except get a beyond-washed Robert Woods. They also drafted Kaleb Johnson—a Najee Harris clone—to replace Najee Harris, and to go with Jaylen Warren. Let’s dissect the ADP to uncover the creamy nougat core of value in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense!
Overdrafted:
DK Metcalf, Wide Receiver (WR20, Pick 45 Overall)
Did you know that Arthur Smith has not had a wide receiver get more than 117 targets on one of his offenses? That was 2022 Drake London, and in his six seasons running an offense, Smith has had a 100+ target receiver four times. There’s a lot to unpack with those stats, especially since he coached A.J. Brown, Corey Davis, Drake London, and George Pickens in that timeframe.
Last year, we saw the worst fantasy season produced by D.K. Metcalf, as he finished with 108 targets, 66 receptions, 992 yards, and five touchdowns. Metcalf drafters hope for a return to normalcy and his prime days with the Seahawks. Unfortunately, I don’t see that coming. While Aaron Rodgers is quite different from Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, the Steelers threw the ball to the wide receivers at the fifth-lowest rate last season (49.9%). The Steelers also had the sixth-fewest dropbacks last year, meaning that the receiver room, and namely, DK Metcalf, will struggle to get consistent targets to make him anything other than a flex play in 2025.
Underdrafted:
Kaleb Johnson, Running Back (RB26, Pick 68 Overall)
Kaleb Johnson is going to slide seamlessly into the Najee Harris Role. All apologies to Jaylen Warren Truthers, but he isn’t about that life. We used to be a proper country that would respect PPR backs like J.D. McKissic and Theo Riddick for what they were and not try to elevate them above their status. Jaylen Warren is the heir apparent to that role.
Johnson has a great blend of speed and power, and he uses that to get shifty between the tackles and maximize the huge holes Iowa created for him. He is patient despite inconsistent vision, and his cutbacks are not the best. That said, if he gets the ball through the first level, it will be a massive gain. He is swift in the open field, though he doesn’t have a bottomless bag of moves.
The biggest knock on Johnson is that he plays more like a 5’10” 200-pound back than the guy we would expect when seeing his frame. He doesn’t plow through tacklers, and his game is more predicated on speed and finesse than blasting through would-be tacklers. He relies on adjusting angles to knock tacklers off-frame rather than taking them head-on. That could be a problem at the next level, but I enjoyed watching Johnson.
But we want to talk about Kaleb Johnson’s opportunities. Last year, Najee Harris finished the season with a 50.2% snap share, which wasn’t great. He left the field too much for my taste, but he managed 263 carries on 50% of snaps (seventh-most in the league). Harris also had six goal-line carries and 48 targets. This led to RB25 in fantasy points per game, likely because of his career-low six total touchdowns.
I love Kaleb Johnson in Pittsburgh. Many folks soured on Najee Harris because they were hellbent on making Jaylen Warren a thing, but Kaleb is like if Najee Harris had slightly more juice. But Kaleb Johnson is a great pick, and the last guy for a while without touch concerns. He is immediately ahead of Tony Pollard, D’Andre Swift, and Isiah Pacheco. If you’re looking to snag someone with no workload concerns, then Kaleb is your last chance for a while.
Sleeper:
Chris Boswell, Kicker (K5, Pick 264 Overall)
Look, I don’t know what you want from me here. The Steelers are going to be a very weird offense, and trying to nail someone down will be like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall. Pat Freiermuth was a screaming value before Jonnu Smith showed up, ditto Jaylen Warren and Kaleb Johnson. Aaron Rodgers is QB28 by ADP and will probably finish at QB20, whoop-de-doo. Boswell had the fourth-best fantasy season by a kicker ever by Pro-Football-Reference.com’s reckoning. He will continue to get a lot of opportunities to kick field goals, and his league-leading 41 makes him a shoo-in as the third kicker off the board (behind Brandon Aubrey and Jake Bates) for me.
